Wana Brands CEO establishes $50M charitable foundation

BOULDER — Nancy Whiteman, CEO and co-founder of Wana Brands, has launched the Wana Brands Foundation, a $50 million charitable organization.

The foundation will focus on research and education, food security, shelter, safety, mental health, sustainability, connection, and social justice. 

Whiteman established the endowment from proceeds of Wana’s 2021 sale to Canopy Growth Corp.

To date, the WBF has committed more than $3.8 million to more than 50 nonprofits. 

“Since we began Wana Brands in 2010, our mission has been to enhance lives through cannabis,” Whiteman said in a written statement. “Today, we remain committed to the overall mission, but the formation of the Wana Brands Foundation enables us to dimensionalize what it means to enhance people’s lives and tremendously expands the scope and impact of how we can serve our communities and the world at large. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to give back through the Foundation.”  

Recent donations include:

• A $2 million gift to Johns Hopkins University to benefit the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in support of cannabis and cannabinoid research, including the potential use of cannabinoids to treat autism.
• The foundation has committed to making a $1 million gift to the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, which focuses on how psychedelics affect behavior, mood, cognition, brain function, and biological markers of health. 
• A $500,000 gift to Out Boulder County’s “We All Belong” capital campaign for their new community center.
• The foundation donated almost $160,000 to 16 local organizations working to end hunger in their communities. 
• Almost $50,000 in donations to nonprofits focused on social justice, including the Reentry Initiative, Last Prisoner Project, Expunge Colorado, and National Expungement Works.
• A $25,000 grant to Realm of Caring, whose mission is to improve quality of life through cannabinoid research, educational services, and advocacy while creating global community connections.
• A$25,000 donation to the League of Women Voters Education Fund to support voter education and resources.
• After the King Soopers shooting in Boulder, the WBF donated funds to Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado for a memorial to the victims and survivors.

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